At stake in this election:

• The 17 seats in the House of Representatives

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Queen Elizabeth II (appoints a Governor-General to represent her; since 2007, the Governor-General has been Louise LAKE-TACK)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister (Winston) Baldwin SPENCER[i]
• Assembly: Antigua & Barbuda has a bicameral Parliament. The Senate has 17 appointed seats and the House of Representatives has 17 elected seats[ii]

Description of electoral system:

• The Governor-General, on advice of the Prime Minister, is appointed by the monarch to serve at Her Majesty’s Pleasure
• The Prime Minister, after legislative elections, is usually the leader of the majority party (or coalition) appointed by the Governor-General[iii]
• In the Parliament, the 17 members of the Senate are elected by the Governor-General.  The 17 members of the House of Representatives are elected by proportional representation to serve 5-year terms

Election Note:

• Prime Minister (Winston) Baldwin Spencer announced in May 2014 that the election was scheduled for June 12, 2014. Elections have been expected since March 2014 when the constitution mandated they be held.[iv] Polls are being monitored by regional organizations such as the Organization for American States (OAS) and by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Political entities in this electoral race:[v]

• United Progressive Party (UPP)
  • Leader: (Winston) Baldwin SPENCER
  • Seats won in last Assembly elections: 9
• Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ALP or ABLP)
  • Leader: Gaston BROWNE
  • Seats won in last Assembly elections: 7
• Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM)
  • Leader: Trevor WALKER
  • Seats won in last Assembly elections: 1
• Antigua Barbuda True Labour Party (ABTLP)
  • Leader: Vere BIRD III
  • Seats won in last Assembly elections: 0
• Antigua Barbuda People’s Movement (ABPM)
  • Leader: Owen GEORGE
  • Seats won in last Assembly elections: 0
• Missing Link VOP
  • Leader: Nigel BASCUS
  • Seats won in last Assembly elections: 0

Last election:

• The last election to the House of Representatives in Antigua and Barbuda was held on 12 March 2009. In February 2009, Prime Minister (Winston) Baldwin Spencer asked Governor-General Lake-Tack to dissolve the House. The election pitted the United Progressive Party (UPP) against the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ALP). The UPP had been in power since 2004. For the March 12 elections, 42 candidates participated for 16 seats in Antigua and one in Barbuda. On 12 March, 80.27 percent of the 52,000 eligible voters turned out.  The UPP won 9 seats, the ALP won 7 and the Barbuda’s People’s Movement (BPM) won 1 seat. Baldwin Spencer won a second consecutive term as Prime Minister. Results can be found here and here.

Population and Voter Registration:

• Population: 91,295 (July 2014 est)[vi]
• Registered Voters: 47,721 (June 2014)[vii]